Cambridge & Counties Bank taps SnapLogic to speed lending

Cambridge & Counties Bank has selected SnapLogic to support its asset finance business following strong growth in its loan book.

The bank is using SnapLogic's integration and automation tools to update lending processes and reduce manual work. According to the companies, one part of its credit decision journey that previously took three hours now takes minutes.

The system connects internal systems, external data sources and artificial intelligence tools through a single orchestration layer. Cambridge & Counties said it automates document processing, information gathering, data validation and workflow coordination, while staff continue to oversee lending decisions.

The agreement comes as lenders across financial services seek practical uses for automation in core operations rather than limited trials. For specialist banks, the pressure is particularly acute in areas such as asset finance, where growth in broker-led business can increase processing demands.

In its annual results, Cambridge & Counties reported that its asset finance book grew 45% to £241 million over 12 months. Broker-led new business in asset finance also rose 74% to £140 million as it focused on service delivery with a core group of brokers.

That growth helps explain the division's focus on operational change. The technology is intended to increase processing capacity without changing the bank's existing technology estate or removing human involvement from customer decisions.

David Holton, Chief Transformation Officer at Cambridge & Counties Bank, set out the rationale for the project.

"We did not set out to implement AI for AI's sake; we set out to solve a business problem. We wanted to significantly increase operational capacity without compromising the personalised service our customers and brokers value. SnapLogic gives us the integration, orchestration and governance foundation to operationalise agentic AI on top of our existing technology estate, enabling us to automate repetitive work, accelerate lending and keep experienced colleagues at the heart of every customer decision," Holton said.

SnapLogic supplies software that links applications, data and workflows across organisations. The bank said it has built the new process on reusable pipelines, meaning the same approach can be applied to other lending and operational tasks.

Operational focus

The use of automation in lending has drawn increased attention from banks seeking to improve turnaround times while maintaining controls. In regulated sectors, firms must balance efficiency gains with oversight, audit trails and the ability for staff to intervene in decision-making.

Cambridge & Counties said its model keeps those checks in place. It described the framework as governed and said human oversight remains part of every workflow.

Jeremiah Stone, Chief Technology Officer at SnapLogic, said: "Cambridge & Counties Bank demonstrates what enterprise AI should look like in practice. The real value of AI comes when it's anchored in a business outcome and orchestrating the systems, data and workflows that run the business. By combining integration, orchestration and governance on a single platform, Cambridge & Counties Bank is building a scalable operating model for accelerated growth while delivering the trust, transparency and oversight required in financial services."

The project also reflects the growing role of brokers in specialist lending distribution. Faster decisions and fewer manual steps can be significant for lenders competing on service in broker-led markets, especially where relationship management remains a differentiating factor.

Cambridge & Counties, headquartered in Leicester, provides property finance, asset finance and business savings products. The technology investment is aimed at making it easier for brokers and customers to do business with the bank while preserving its relationship-led approach.

Sarah Barker, Chief Commercial Officer at Cambridge & Counties Bank, said: "Our investment in technology is driven by a clear objective: to make it easier and faster for brokers and customers to do business with us, without losing the relationship-led approach that sets Cambridge & Counties Bank apart. By combining the expertise of our people with AI-enabled processes, we're creating greater capacity to support growth, deliver a consistently high level of service and continue evolving our asset finance proposition in response to broker needs."